British Columbia’s civilian police watchdog has cleared RCMP of any wrongdoing in relation to a tractor crash during an anti-SOGI protest near Highway 1 in November.
The tractor rolled on the on-ramp to the 176 Street overpass in Surrey on Nov. 25, as it was being pursued by police vehicles. Video of the crash circulated widely on social media.
In a media release Friday, the Independent Investigations Office described the collision as a “result of interactions between the police vehicles and the tractor.”
“The tractor rolled over, and male driver of the tractor was ejected from the vehicle. The driver sustained a serious injury and was transported to a local hospital for treatment,” the IIO said.
- Woman on trial for manslaughter of mother in suspected elder abuse case testifies
- N.B. police officer charged with harassing former intimate partner
- Edmonton man accused of rolling back odometers, selling vehicles at inflated prices
- RCMP arrest man after taxi stolen, crashed into police station’s wheelchair ramp
The driver, identified as Bill Shoker, was participating in a “STOP SOGI 123” “road rally,” according to his wife.
SOGI 123 is a resource package designed to help teachers and school administrators reduce discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in their curriculum, and has become a political flashpoint in recent years.
Get breaking National news
Shoker’s wife said he had participated in numerous anti-SOGI rallies in the region.
In its update, the IIO said it had reviewed civilian witness statements, forensic scene analysis, video footage, medical records and police records and determined there were no reasonable grounds to believe any officer may have committed an offence.
Comments
Comments closed.
Due to the sensitive and/or legal subject matter of some of the content on globalnews.ca, we reserve the ability to disable comments from time to time.
Please see our Commenting Policy for more.